Vintage CryptoKitties and the Quest for Authenticity

Abstract

This paper presents the case of the blockchain-based game CryptoKitties (Axiom Zen, 2017), more specifically, one particular way of making game tokens potentially more valuable by labeling them ‘vintage’. Firstly, I show how the meaning of ‘vintage’ was collectively constructed by the community of players and negotiated online until it was acknowledged by the owners of the game. Secondly, I measure the influence of the ‘vintage’ label on the game market in the first six months of 2018. I base my measurements on open market data available through such services as KittyHelper, Etherscan and the Chrome plug-in CKBox. I conclude that ‘vintage kitties' did not acquire surplus market value even after they became a publicly recognized part of the game: breeding them resulted in losses for the majority of players. However, their retro aesthetics inspired creativity of many players and signified the social status of “the new rich”.